Pakistan ready for good ties with India: Nawaz Sharif’s aide

Pakistan is ready to forge cooperative relations with India provided New Delhi gives the slightest hint it is willing to do so, a top Pakistani official has said in Beijing.
India and Pakistan cannot afford to have a tense and hostile relation, Tariq Fatemi, special assistant to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on foreign affairs, told Chinese state media during his recent visit.
Fatemi, who was in Beijing earlier this month for a three-day visit, indicated a planned meeting of the foreign secretaries of the two sides will take place soon.
China and Pakistan are “all weather partners” that are set to celebrate the 65th anniversary of establishing bilateral diplomatic ties. In an interview published in state-run Global Times on Tuesday, Fatmei said Sharif has always been eager to begin dialogue with India.
“The PM’s policies regarding India are very well known. There is nothing hidden about it. He publicly says he wants good relations with India and this has been his belief for many years,” Fatemi said.
“Every time he has come to power, he reaches out to the Indian leadership. He tries to initiate a dialogue process with India.”
Read: India-Pak talks not dependent on Pathankot probe, says Indian envoy
Good relations, Fatemi said, are important for both countries. “Relations between Pakistan and India are essential, not for one but for both countries.”
He added: “The important thing is that if there is even the slightest hint of an interest in cooperative relations coming out of India, we are ready to respond.
“We are also hoping that very soon the meeting at the level of the foreign sectaries will also take place (and) that will mean the beginning of formal dialogue. Neither country can afford a relationship of tension and hostility.”
Fatemi described Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s unannounced visit to Lahore in December as a positive development. “It was a surprise, unofficial and informal visit by Modi. He arrived on a day that happened to be the birthday of Pakistan’s PM, so it was a very warm and friendly atmosphere.”
He also spoke about the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), saying it includes energy and infrastructure projects and the Gwadar port.
“The current total package is of about $46 billion, of which $35 billion are envisaged for energy projects, in which Chinese companies will collaborate with Pakistani companies to set up power plants, because power shortage is the biggest challenge that Pakistan is facing currently. The other $11 billion will be loans extended by Chinese financial institutions,” he said.
Besides upgrading the Gwadar deep port, China and Pakistan will build an international airport in the area. Fatemi said Pakistan is creating a special force comprising 10,000 specially trained personnel to ensure the safety and security of Chinese nationals working in the country.
-
Climate crisis: China hit by worst heat wave in decades
A scorching heat wave, the worst in six decades, sweeping China has dried up rivers and reservoirs, threatened crop yields and forced industries to shut down and ration electricity. One of the regions hit badly by the heat wave is China's southwestern Sichuan province, which has shut down factories for six days to ease a crippling power shortage.
-
Rishi Sunak losing UK prime minister race, trails Liz Truss by 32 points
Liz Truss led Rishi Sunak by 32 points in the latest survey of UK Tory members by the ConservativeHome website, suggesting she remains on track to win the race to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister. Some 60% of the 961 Tory members polled by the influential website said they favored Truss to become the Conservative Party's new leader, while just 28% backed Sunak, ConservativeHome said on Wednesday.
-
China wants military outposts in Pakistan to safeguard its investments
Having made significant investments in the conflict-prone Pakistan-Afghanistan region as part of its hugely ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, China is planning to protect its interests in the two countries by stationing its own forces in specially created outposts, according to top diplomatic sources. Pakistan, where according to some estimates the Chinese investments have risen above USD 60 billion, is largely dependent on China not only for financial but also military and diplomatic support.
-
Republican leader who voted for Trump's impeachment loses Wyoming primary
Cheney will now be forced from Congress at the end of her third and final term in January. Far, US President Donald Trump's has helped install loyalists who parrot his conspiracy theories in general election matchups from Pennsylvania to Arizona. With Cheney's loss, Republicans who voted to impeach Trump are going extinct. Democrats across America, major donors among them, took notice. Trump earned nearly 70% of the vote in 2016 and 2020.
-
Trump says FBI returned his passports: 'Unfortunately, they just grabbed…'
Former US president Donald Trump on Wednesday said that the department of justice and the FBI returned his passports seized during the raid at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida last week. Trump said on Tuesday in a statement in a Truth Social post. On Monday, he alleged that the federal law enforcement agency “stole” three passports, one of which he said was expired.